Homegrown Aid , by JEFFREY D. SACHS Published: April 8, 2009 PRESIDENT OBAMA has embarked on a promising new course to fight hunger and promote economic growth and political stability in countries like Cambodia, Honduras and Malawi. These countries, and many more, have large populations of impoverished farm families. Tough climates, environmental degradation and a… Read More From the NYT: ‘Homegrown Aid’, by Jeffrey Sachs
Ever wonder why it’s so satisfying knowing a little about what is happening to everyone in your Facebook network, and, in the case of Twitter, knowing what is happening to people you barely know? Here is an interesting reflection on the subject Behind Facebook’s success: It takes a village By Anand Giridharadas, posted March 26th… Read More IHT: ‘Behind Facebook’s success: It takes a village’
Here is another reason why celebrities shouldn’t be role models: they are often the result of careful marketing strategies. What we think as coming from celebrities, i.e. what some people consider as the standards towards which they strive, are actually coming from a team of people manipulating that stars image. And, however obvious this argument… Read More IHT: ‘When stars Twitter, a ghost may be lurking’
By David Stout, published on March 18th 2009 WASHINGTON: As the lucrative bonuses paid to employees of the American International Group fueled fresh outrage at the White House and on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the embattled chief executive of A.I.G. said that he had asked some recipients to give at least half the money back. The… Read More A new era of activism? From IHT: U.S. outcry forces chief of A.I.G. to give ground
Careful what you put up… The officer who posted too much on MySpace My next question: how to do a cleanup. Stat.
The demise of the written word is predicted every couple of years since the inception of the Internet. I remember reading an gloomy article about how young people hoping to become internationally known published authors à la Stephen King should forget about that dream and settle for making moderate amounts of money with a book… Read More Note to all aspiring authors: there is still hope
A family to herald diversity by Jodi Kantor Published on IHT.com on January 20th, 2009 The president’s elderly Kenyan step-grandmother came, bearing a gift of an oxtail fly whisk. Cousins journeyed from the South Carolina town where the first lady’s great-great-grandfather was born into slavery, while the rabbi in the family came from the synagogue where… Read More Change has already started to come; the White House ain’t that ‘white’ anymore, is it?
It often surprises me – and it definitely intrigues me – how people convince themselves that they are doing the right thing and that their actions will bring about lasting change in their lives, when clearly (at least, to those around them) they don’t. One example is weight loss; it absolutely amazes me how women… Read More When superficial actions aren’t a reflection of a deeper change
I read an article published on ITH.com that made my jaw drop – and not in a good way. I wanted to see other people’s reactions. In short, the article is about the guilt rich people feel when shopping for extravagant items, and how a new niche market has been established, composed partly by invitation-only… Read More From IHT: Even in recession, spend they must: Luxury shoppers anonymous